Multiple Sessions of Regenerative Electrical Stimulation to Accelerate Sensory Neuron Regeneration

项目总结

Project Summary Peripheral nerve injuries (PNIs) affect men and women in the prime of their lives, with the loss of motor and sensory function and neuropathic pain. Regenerative electrical stimulation has been shown to accelerate functional recovery after a PNI. Preclinical studies have shown that multiple one-hour sessions of regenerative promoting electrical stimulation can further accelerate motor function recovery, but have a detrimental effect on sensory regeneration. An investigation to determine a set of parameters that would benefit both motor and sensory is needed so multiple regenerative stimulation sessions can become a possible treatment. To evaluate different lengths of stimulation sessions, a few regenerative associated genes will be evaluated: galanin (GAL), LIF, and GAP 43, but previous studies have not evaluated GAL or LIF after electrical stimulation treatment. I hypothesize that decreasing the length of the stimulation will allow for increasing the number of stimulation sessions while still allowing enhanced LIF and GAL expression. To assess this, I will determine if LIF and GAL are down- regulated after three hours of regenerative promoting electrical stimulation after a unilateral sciatic nerve injury; if so, LIF and GAL with GAP 43 will be used to determine a set of parameters for multiple stimulation session that promote sensory nerve regeneration. The expression will be determined via the RNAscope of LIF, GAL, and GAP 43, a technique I will learn from the Zigmond laboratory. The parameters found will then be used to determine if they accelerate regeneration. Regeneration will be assessed via von Fray filaments, another technique I will learn from the Zigmond lab.